Bill Bennett: “As this debate goes forward, it is beginning to take on somewhat of a formulae pattern with one side saying, There are…”

“As this debate goes forward, it is beginning to take on somewhat of a formulae pattern with one side saying, There are some good things in this bill, but it is so bad that we must do nothing, and the other saying, We have problems; there may be some bad things in this bill, but we have to move forward. Both sides agree the bill is not what individual Senators might prefer, but the way the argument comes down on one side or the other as to the balance. I am reminded of the statement my father used to make when he served in this body. He said: We legislate at the highest level at which we can obtain a majority. With the Senate as equally divided as this one, with only a one-vote margin between the parties, obtaining a majority is very difficult. I pay tribute not only to the chairman of the Finance Committee, but to the ranking member of the Finance Committee who, in a bipartisan fashion, obtained a majority within that committee and brought a bill that has now obtained a majority in the House of Representatives, however close that was, and is on its way to obtaining a majority in the Senate. As the debate has gone on, those who are saying, No, this bill is more bad than it is good, seem to have another mantra that I have heard over and over again. That mantra is this: This bill will destroy Medicare.”